Flying
by adriennelouise
Summary: Shikamaru had chosen to fall. What's next? Sequel to Falling. [Shikamaru x Temari]


**A/N: **Sequel to "Falling." Sorry. I can't help it. I don't like it as much as I like the first one but here it is. A product of another stressful week. Special thanks to Jena and Jireh for the encouragements and for keeping me sane.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto and its characters. Masashi Kishimoto is the genius behind it. I'm just playing around.

**Flying**

_The wind shrieked loudly on his ears and whipped harshly at his face, almost scarring his skin. _

It reminded him of her fan...

_He made this choice. He had chosen to fall. And now he was..._

_He opened his eyes. The large sharp rocks and the strong waves below rushed up swiftly to meet him, to crush him... _

_Or rather, he rushed down swiftly to meet his own death._

_He chanced a look toward the edge of the cliff and he saw her there. She simply stood there, looking down toward him with an expression devoid of emotion. Everything was just as gray as the sky above her._

_Shikamaru sighed to himself then closed his eyes again._

_He felt like he made the wrong decision._

* * *

_Who was he kidding?_

Shikamaru sighed once again to himself as he watched the couple in front of him. In the surface, he watched them with a bored look as they talked. But inside he was dealing with a torrent of feelings ranging from disappointment, to jealousy and anger.

"Oi, Shikamaru," Temari said, waking him up from his trance. "Shuichi asked you a question."

He looked at the other ninja. Shuichi was older than her. Two years. Shikamaru was younger than her. Three years. That made a lot of difference. They've also known each other longer and he's a jounin like her. Plus the fact that Shuichi was someone like Sasuke. The type chased and ogled at by the girls with his tall lean physique, pretty face and long black hair. He never knew that would be Temari's type.

"What was it again?" he asked after downing a shot of sake.

Temari laughed.

"No more sake for you," she said taking away the _tokkuri _and the _ochoko_ from him. "He was asking about your work at the Ninja Academy."

"Oh that," he mumbled. "Well... it could be very troublesome at times but it's nice to see those brats grow up and improve."

After that, they were engulfed again in their own little world. Shikamaru frowned and poured himself another shot of sake. She didn't even notice.

He never really drank a lot. He just did it for politeness' sake. He actually hated it. But this time, he just felt like drinking. He didn't care anymore.

_He didn't care anymore._

* * *

Shikamaru watched the clouds overhead, but unlike before, a frown marred his features. It had been two weeks since he last saw Temari. The frown grew deeper when he saw a cloud shaped like her head, together with the four spiky ponytails.

He sighed, closed his eyes, and then tried to sleep. A slight breeze blew his way which wiped the frown from his face. Maybe he should stop moping around. It's very bothersome to be even thinking about her. He still had a few days of break before he returned to work again. He might as well make the most out of it.

He must have dozed off because when he opened his eyes again, she was already there sitting beside him on the grass.

"What are you doing here?" he asked as calmly and nonchalantly as possible.

Temari leaned back then looked up to the sky.

"You left without saying goodbye."

There was a long silence before Shikamaru spoke again.

"Do I need to?"

Temari looked down questioningly at him. He tried to keep a straight face. He stared back and tried not to flinch.

They both just watched the clouds in silence after that. It took a lot of willpower for him not to turn to look at her and much more, to speak. After half an hour, however, he gave up. Holding back was very troublesome.

"You were too busy with him," he said breaking the silence. "I might as well leave you two alone."

He was looking directly at the sky when he said that but he felt her stare... he even felt the smile on her face... which was growing into a grin. It _was_ pure torture.

"Nara Shikamaru is jealous," she teased.

"So what if I was?" he asked with a scowl, his focus still on the clouds above. He just saw one like a sake bottle.

"Oi. Tell me," she said with a smirk. "Do you like me?"

He chanced a look at her and winced a bit at her expression of triumph.

"Maybe I do. Maybe I don't."

He felt her move beside him. Next thing he knew, she was laying on the grass, very close to him. He tried to be nonchalant about it. He just stared ahead then tried to think of something else. He was not prepared with what happened next.

"Do you want to know my answer?"

Her hot breath tickled his ear and sent shivers down his spine. He struggled to keep a straight face and to show that he wasn't affected at all.

Not again. Not another battle where she was winning... and he was clearly losing... by a mile.

"I don't really care," he said trying to keep his voice steady and his focus on the sky.

He felt her hand on his face. It was quite calloused, probably from all the training. Nevertheless, they were beautiful hands... and it was the first time someone held him like that. She turned his head to face her then she smiled.

"Do you want to know my answer?" she asked again.

He stared at her for a while. She took it as a 'yes.'

"I like you, too."

Shikamaru just stared at her with that bored look of his. Temari frowned.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" she asked, quite disgruntled at his reaction.

Shikamaru only smirked.

* * *

_He should have been dead by now... crushed to a million pieces._

_But he wasn't._

_He peeled his eyes open then he saw the unexpected._

He was floating in the air...

_He turned around then he saw her there with a smile on her face. The sun was just setting and the lights in shades of red, orange and yellow danced beautifully across her face. She was so beautiful; Shikamaru had to remind himself that this was Temari. Not a beautiful ethereal creature. _

_He was awoken from his trance when she reached out a hand to him._

_Just like that night. Only this time he was sure._

_He smiled back, took her hand in his, and then he pulled her closer._

_He had chosen to fall... and when he thought he was alone, she fell with him... and together they flew._

**

* * *

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**A/N: **Like it? Hate it? Please let me know. Thanks for reading.

_Tokkuri_ - ceramic flask containing the sake

_Ochoko_ - small cylindrical cup where sake is served

(got these from a Wikipedia article...)


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